Ryuga Dougai
is the main male protagonist in Garo ~ Yami o Terasu Mono ~ and ''Garo: Gold Storm - Sho''. He is a Makai Knight and the bearer of the Armor and Title of Garo, the Golden Knight. Character History Early History Unlike usual Makai Knights where armors are passed on from father to son or master to apprentice, the Garo armor was placed in the Tower of Heroic Spirits, and according to a caretaker monk, tarnished black after fighting a great battle long ago. Unlike the Golden Knights of the Saezima line, while he is brought up to be a formidable fighter, he is not as well educated and he is not proficient at all with the Makai Language. He possesses the innate ability to hear people's feelings and thoughts by putting their belongings next to his ears. He uses the uncanny trait, inherited from his mother, as a means of sensing the presence of Horrors at times as well. Growing up as a child on an isolated island, he had always been fascinated with the Garo armor since his visit to the Tower of Heroic Spirits as a child, and promised his mother Hakana that he would be its wearer someday. Ryuga trained under Burai's instruction on the island for ten years with Rago as his training partner before gaining the right to bear the Garo title. Though he killed Rago to complete his training, Ryuga takes his training partner's fang as a keepsake and began a life of solitude after being told that his mother died during his training, resenting the Makai Priest for not being able to protect his mother. Not stationed in one place like Makai Knights usually are, Ryuga travels across Japan's cities to slay Horrors and erecting crude tombs overlooking them in memory of his mother. Yami o Terasu Mono Eventually, Ryuga is sent to Vol City where he is reunited with Burai and reluctantly agrees to help him and the other Makai Knights stationed there. Finding himself facing Madō Horrors, Ryuga sees visions of his mother whenever hit by golden shock waves and emitted by the Madō Horrors' wounds that cause the Garo armor to momentarily regain its golden appearance as brief as the pain associated with it. While learning that they are behind the Horror residence of Vol City, Ryuga unwittingly gives the Kaneshiro Group enough evidence of his actions to create propaganda portraying him as a serial killer, and placing a ¥300,000,000 bounty on his head. However, Ryuga resolves the matter by going through with an meticulously elaborated plan to confirm Rivera's identity as a Madō Horror, retrieve a piece of material off of her for developing a Madō Horror Detector while faking his death at the Vol TV station. After his confrontation with Hyena, Ryuga makes a grave marker for his mother on the cliff overlooking the Vol City with Rian's help. Though his mind is racing with thoughts of Vol City and the mystery of his armor's connections to them, Ryuga reaches the conclusion that destroying the Madō Horrors is the only way to obtain answers. After the revelation that Tousei is responsible for the Horrors in Vol City, learning that he is human, Ryuga is once more portrayed as a terrorist along with the rest of his group. Though he evades Tousei's attempt to make him into a Madō Horror, Ryuga ends up being blinded by Sonshi with the Garoken thrown into the lobby of Tousei's office where it remained. Despite extremely unfavorable odds due to his blindness and placed in solitary confinement, Ryuga escapes the SG1 prison and with timely aid from his fellow Knights, retrieves the Garoken. Soon after, finally acknowledged by Zaruba as they form a contract, Ryuga is reunited with his mother and learns that she was used by Tousei to sire Madō Horrors who are revealed to hold her memories. After Hakana gives up her own eyesight to restore his, Ryuga races off to the Hill of Zedom's Arm to save Rian, and finally kill Enhou through the combined efforts of him and Rian. After killing Enhou, hearing the last trances of the woman's humanity through her necklace, Ryuga vows to never have another innocent be sired as a Madō Horror. In a bid to stop Zedom's resurrection, the group head for the slowly crumbling Hill of Zedom's Head and Ryuga knows right from the start that Burai intends to sacrifice himself. He eventually thanks Burai for all the priest has done for him, before heading to fight Sonshi and defeating him with the aid of his friends. With the Garo armor finally regains its brilliance, forced to kill his mother to spare her from becoming a Horror, Ryuga battles Zedom. During the fight, as the Horror attempts to consume him, Ryuga tells Zedom that the eyes he gained from his mother are a symbol of hope and future before he and the Makai Knights destroy him. With Vol City saved, Ryuga parts ways with his friends to not only build a grave marker for his mother in the Makai Priest ruins, but also deal with Tousei since he is now a Horror. After Rian kills Tousei in his stead, Ryuga accepts her request to join him in his southward journey. Gold Storm Gold Storm Sho Relationships *Hakana (Mother) *Zaruba (Partner) *Rian (love interest) *Burai (surrogate father and mentor) *Takeru Jakuzure (best friend) *Aguri Kusugami (friend) *Enhō (reluctant enemy) *Sonshi (arch-enemy) *Tousei Kaneshiro (enemy) *Zedom (enemy) *Jinga (enemy) Personality Ryuga is a young Makai Knight that inherited the title of Golden Knight Garo. As the successor of the previous Garo, there are a lot of expectations for him to be strong and worthy to honor the title, however, such things never mattered to him. Like any young warrior, he's emotional, less disciplined, brash, and frequently bends and/or blatantly breaks rules established by the Makai Order. However, his emotions also makes him more compassionate, merciful, and warm towards others. Although titled Garo, Ryuga is an independent agent; he doesn't answer to the Makai Order. Rather, he spends his days independently traveling from one location to the next to cleanse all threats of Horrors before moving on. He's confident in his abilities as he believes he's strong and will use his abilities to protect humanity against Horrors. In later installments, Ryuga is shown to be a bit more responsible and skilled in combat. Ryuga, when not fighting, is now more carefree and has a bit of naivete (as he believed Makai Watchdogs lived in areas that had a low population or near forest shrines and not in cites.) He also can be a bit too blunt at times when talking without realizing it (such as pointing out that Ryume has an old lady's voice despite looking young, much to the anger and embarrassment of Rian). Despite his happier nature, he conceals the emotional pain that his job can cause, such as being forced to kill his own mother due to her body slowly becoming a Horror. He is also more willing to cooperate with the Makai Order, accepting assignments and taking down any Horror they assign him to seal. Skills & Abilities Ryuga is a trained Makai Knight; he's highly skilled in martial arts and hunting down Horrors. On top of his martial arts abilities, he's shown to be a skilled acrobat as he is able to leap tall bounds and jump across buildings while doing flips mid-air. He has a natural ability that stands unique amongst Makai Knights and Makai Priests: Ryuga has extra-sensory empathic abilities. By touching objects that had physical contact with other beings, humans and/or Horrors alike, he can sense the emotions, intentions, and passed conversations to reveal the truth behind the being in question. With this ability, he can tell if a person (or entity) is good or bad, truthful or dishonest, and uncover certain past events. The Golden Knight Garo Being the Makai Knight bestowed with the title of The Golden Knight, Ryuga can summon and wear the Garo Armor. by swinging his Makai Blade in a circle overhead. This creates a magic circle through which the armor descends and equips to his body. After acquiring the armor's Sho form, Ryuga revises the summoning ritual by first sheathing then unsheathing his Makai Blade before drawing the circle. - Golden Knight= By defeating the last Madou Horror, the Garo armor regains its golden luster and original form. Along with its full power, the scabbard of the Garoken also returns to its original form. With this, Ryuga officially became the true bearer of the armor, along with the title of The Golden Knight. Like many Gold Knights before him, the armor's eyes varies from wearer to wearer, with Ryuga's Garo having orange eyes. - Garo Sho= This is the form of the Garo armor after being purified by Ryume. The armor retains it's usual basic design, but has become noticeably larger with more aggressive articulation and accents. This form increases Ryuga's strength and agility, while also adding more to his offensive capabilities. This Garo form also changes the Garoken's appearance, with its hilt bearing flame-like design in its broadsword form, while in its normal form, it could release shurikens when swung with its scabbard. This form would become Ryuga's signature armored form. "翔 (Shō)" - Garo Yami= After Ryuga conquered his inner darkness, Ryuga gained the ability to enhance the Garo Sho armor into a stronger state called Garo Yami. While in this form, Garo Sho acquires a similar black luster like that of Lost Shine Garo. This state augments the existing strength and capabilities of his armor, while also allowing flight via bat-like wings. After his initial fight with Jinga, Ryuga can access this state voluntarily. }} Notes *Ryuga is the second Makai Knight not to be related by blood to his predecessors after Zero. *Ryuga's main fighting stance, where he holds his blade against the outside of his opposite hand, is very similar if not identical to the fighting stance of Leon Luis, fellow golden knight and protagonist of the Garo anime series, Honoo no Kokuin. *Ryuga, along with Leon, is one of the only Golden Knights throughout the series, that does not wear a white coat, instead opting for a black coat *Ryuga is the only Garo to have gone through a major hairstyle change through out his multiple appearences, going from a spiked back style to a more reserved pushed downward style. Perhaps to represent his growth and changes in personality *Ryuga is the only Wielder of the Golden Armor to have obtained not only 2 upgrades to the original Golden armor on his own, but to have those upgrades be permanent and appear more than once *Ryuga's actor, Wataru Kuriyama has said to be a fan of the original Garo series, and was hoping to be able to emulate Kouga in his role of Ryuga, however during production he was told to be nothing like Kouga and instead be able to smile. External Links Category:Characters Category:Makai Knight Category:Garo ~ Yami o Terasu Mono ~ Category:Garo: Gold Storm - Sho